


The Child Within

by Megameatloafcake



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Seto Kaiba being nice??, What sort of alternate dimension is this?, cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 08:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10986810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megameatloafcake/pseuds/Megameatloafcake
Summary: One day while making sure all goes smoothly for Kaibaland, Seto Kaiba comes across a lost and crying child. Seto's heart is normally cold and he doesn't always handle children well, but then he feels the need to give this child the best day ever; it ends up with Kaiba having a better day than the lost child, even regaining something that he thought he had lost long ago.





	The Child Within

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DragonSilk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSilk/gifts), [Stellalana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stellalana/gifts), [forlornTimekeeper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/forlornTimekeeper/gifts), [Aki_The_Shiftless](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aki_The_Shiftless/gifts).



> Yo yo yo I had totally came up with this while I was at work. A bunch of school kids came on a field trip to see the movie "Born in China" (it's about pandas or something like that) and BOOM. Came up with the headcannon that the cold-hearted Seto Kaiba actually has a soft spot for children and can't stand to see any one of them upset. There aren't enough stories of Seto interacting with children, so I took it upon myself to write one!
> 
> To the authors I've gifted this to: Please accept this one-shot as a token of your great writing, I am not worthy!!!

It was just like any normal day in KaibaLand in June: hot, crowded, full of screaming children and incompetent buffoons who couldn't tell their left hand apart from their right hand. Seto Kaiba was ready to pull out every strand of his chestnut colored hair from his scalp. Hwanted to fire every last one of the men he had hired to build the park, but was far too behind schedule to replace any of them. But he could yell at them all he liked. Letting out a frustrated growl he gruffly made his way the dueling arena, hopefully defeating amateur duelists would help him release some steam; he needed to get out of the building that was under construction otherwise heads would have literally started rolling. He smirked to himself as he thought of all the duelists who would more than likely stare at him in awe as he wiped out the life points of his pathetic opponents, groveling at his feet and crying about how they were no match for a true duelist like himself.

But his plans abruptly changed when something caught his eye.

He saw a small boy who looked no older than six-years-old standing near one of the gift-shop stands, his bright blonde hair that reminded Seto of a certain mutt he hated swished from side to side as his head frantically snapped back and forth as if he were looking for someone. His hazel eyes sparkled with tears and he began to cry as soon as he realized he was alone. Seto frowned, the kid was obviously lost and none of his employees were willing to help him- he would have to reprimand them later, but for now he had a problem he needed to solve. Without hesitation he abruptly turned, his white tail coat billowing in the wind as he moved, and made his way to the kid. Before he was a few feet away from the crying kid, he froze. What was he supposed to do? He's never had to deal with kids before, aside from when he was a child himself, so what was he doing?

When those teary hazel-eyes met with Seto's own saphire, something tugged within his chest where he supposed his heart was. Seto kneeled down in front of the kid and began to speak softly, as if the kid was a frightened deer.

"What's your name kid?"

The little boy looked up at Seto, then sniffed rather pathetically and used the sleeves of his green sweatshirt to dry off his eyes and nose.

"M-my name's H-Haru Hinata."

Seto nodded.

"Are you lost Haru?"

He nodded.

"I w-was on a field trip with the o-orphanage, b-but, now I'm l-l-" 

Haru couldn't make out a comprehensible sentence before he began to blubbering and crying again. Seto grew uncomfortable. He never felt this way when ex-employees of his were pathetically weeping and pleading to him whenever he fired them, but this was different. In front of him stood a frightened and confused child, something that Seto himself was all too familiar with as he and Mokuba grew up.

"Hey, stop crying."

He hadn't meant to sound harsh, but there was no sense in taking his words back as Haru looked up at him with confusion in his red-rimmed eyes. 

"H-huh?"

Seto pulled out his handkerchief and pressed it against the smaller nose.

"Here, blow your nose."

Haru squeezed his eyes closed and emptied his nose into the pristine white handkerchief, and after he was done Seto balled it up and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. He then looked at Haru and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I said, no crying. You're in KaibaLand, nobody ever cries here. That isn't allowed." An unfamiliar sensation began to bubble up in the pit of his stomach and he felt the corners of his mouth twitch up into the alien feeling of a smile. "Now, you're going to have the best day you've ever had. You're with Seto Kaiba now, so no more crying. Promise?"

Seto held up his pinkie in a way that he hadn't done since he was ten-years-old, back when he made a promise to Mokuba to always look out for him. Haru seemed to perk up and he smiled, though not before wiping away the last of his tears, and eagerly looped his own tiny pinkie around Seto's slender one.

"Yeah! It's a promise!"

Seto smiled genuinely at the young boy. He reached for one of the blank white buttons from the shop, which was usually used to showcase whatever holidays any particular guest was celebrating, and pulled out a Sharpie marker he usually kept on himself. He wrote something down on the button and held it up for Haru to see. 

"What does this button say?

Haru squinted at the words written in Seto's neat handwriting.

"E...extra...special...KaibaLand Guest?"

Seto found himself unable to stop smiling.

"That's right," he gently poked the boy's chest, "you are an honorary guest here at KaibaLand, and since you're with me we get to do whatever you want."

The cheerful tone he spoke in sounded foreign to his ears, but he dismissed any sort of negative feelings when he say Haru's bright smile. He then scooped the boy up and settled him on his shoulders with Haru giggling all the while.

"Woah! I'm up so high, I can see the orphanage from here!"

"Where do you want to go first? You get to pick since it's going to be your best day."

Seto began to walk around aimlessly as Haru pondered, his eyes scanning around until they fell upon a certain ride that Seto would admit to himself was his very favorite ride.

"I wanna go on the Blue-Eyes White Coaster! It's my favorite"

Seto didn't bother stopping the chuckle that escaped his lips and he headed to the ride. 

"That's so cool, it's my favorite too!"

As they made their way to the ride Seto eagerly listened to everything Haru told him: from what his favorite animals were, to what he was learning in school, and even telling the older man what color his socks were. Seto didn't even need to flash any sort of ID since he was the owner of the park, and the workers quickly allowed him and his very special guest to the very front of the ride. Haru stared in awe at the large steel coaster, admiring the realistic details put into the Blue-Eyes White Dragon head.

"Come one, let's sit down now!" Seto got into the car first, ignoring the flashing cameras of the people around him who were all very confused as to why the seemingly heartless business man decided to spend his day playing with a child.

He helped Haru into the car and made sure that the young boy was secure in his seat. The boy was bouncing against the chest bar and swung his feet excitedly as the ride started up, slowly making its trek up the hill. A thought suddenly popped into his mind and he slyly looked to his young companion.

"Do you know what Blue Eye's special attack is?"

He bit back a laugh when Haru looked at him incredulously like the answer was the easiest in the world, which, of course, it was.

"Of course I do, Burst Stream of Destruction!"

Seto was really starting to like this kid.

"I'll count up to three, and let's call out the attack together. Ready?" Haru reached out and held Seto's hand, which he squeezed back. "One...Two..." They were just getting to the top of the hill that was moments away from launching the coaster down the hill. "...Three!"

They both shouted together as the coaster paused before it would go down:

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The tip of the coaster began to tilt downwards. "Burst Stream of Destruction!"

Haru then began to scream with glee, laughing as Seto pretended to be afraid and humorously faked a scream the enitre time. He dramatically panted once the coaster pulled back into the station, placing a hand over his chest in order to sell the fact that he was "scared" in order to make the kid laugh. To Seto's secret delight it sent Haru into fits of laughter.

"That was really scary!" Seto helped Haru out of the coaster, still ignoring the flashing cameras that surrounded him. "Were you scared at all?"

Haru shook his head, taking Seto's larger hands and swinging himself back onto the concrete ground.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Wow, you must be really brave! I was scared during that big drop, I thought we were gonna fall out of the coaster!"

He usually hated patronizing people and usually meant to do so sarcastically, but something inside him felt...warm. He couldn't help but feel playful around this little boy and was genuinely happy that he was able to successfully cheer Haru up.

The boy took Seto's hand and pointed up at him as they walked back out into the crowded area.

"That's 'cause you're a chicken!"

Seto laughed, a true laugh that he hadn't done in what must have been years.

"Yeah you're right. I'm just a big ol' chicken. Buk-buk-bukah!!"

The usually dignified man, who would never be caught dead doing anything that would publicly embarrass him, was now parading in circles around an orphan child pretending to be a chicken. Haru laughed as he chased the clucking older man around and was having the best time ever.

"Haru Hinata! There you are!"

The two stopped their game and looked to the source of the voice, seeing an older woman running up to the pair. The woman then stopped as she realized just who had been accompanying the young boy and stared at him in shock.

"Mister Kaiba!"

Seto regarded her with a nod before he knelt down to Haru.

"Well kid, I guess this is where we say goodbye."

He felt something twang in his chest at the sadness that shone in Haru's eyes.

"But...we were supposed to have fun together..."

The older woman walked up behind him and placed a gentle hand on the young boy's shoulder.

"Haru, do you know who this man is?"

Hazel eyes glanced between Seto and the care-taker.

"No?"

The woman and Seto chuckled. The woman held her arm out in front of the boy and pointed to Seto.

"This young man is Seto Kaiba, he's the one who built this park."

Seto began to feel warm when he saw how Haru's face lit up with amazement.

"Woah! You own this park? Is that why we got to jump the line??"

"It sure is, buddy."

The boy then began to pat around his pockets before he finally pulled out a duel monster's card, which he eagerly held out to the world-renowned Duel Monsters champion.

"Could you sign my copy of the Blue Eyes? I know I can't use it in duels or anything, I just wanna collect them."

Seto chuckled for the thousandth time that day as he took the card from the small hands.

"Who knows, maybe someday you can use the real thing," he winked playfully at Haru as he handed the card back.

Haru immediately glued his eyes to the card with the biggest smile Seto had ever seen.

"What do you say to Mister Kaiba?" The woman asked.

The boy tore his eyes away from the card and looked up at the woman before settling his eyes on Seto. What the older man hadn't expected was the young boy to launch himself into Seto's arms and hug him rather tightly- the kid sure was strong for his age, that or Seto just wasn't used to being hugged like this by anyone other than his little brother Mokuba.

"Thank you for playing with me Mister Kaiba."

Hesitantly, Seto lightly hugged the small boy back before pulling away.

"Any time kiddo," he ruffled Haru's blonde locks, which caused Haru and his care-taker to laugh. "Just remember that with this badge," he pointed to the white button on his chest, "you are welcome to come here and play with me any time you want."

"Come along now, Haru, time to head back home. I'm sure Mister Kaiba has all sorts of things to do today."

She sent Seto a playful wink as she took Haru's ahand and began to lead him away. The boy turned back and began to frantically wave back at him, and Seto waved back at him with a smile. As the two vanished into the crowd Seto couldn't help but feel a little sad- but all of that ended when he heard a loud "ahem" from behind him. Whipping around he saw that Mokuba stood behind him, the golden glow of the sun illuminating his small body and making him seem more powerful than he actually was. And just like that, Seto returned back to his usual gruffy self.

"What is it Mokuba?"

Though the younger Kaiba brother's face was stern, underneath the wild mane of black hair his plum colored eyes twinkled playfully.

"You've been missing for a good hour, bro. Why were you playing with some kid when you had all this work to do?"

As Mokuba spoke Seto began to walk back toward the buildings he originally came from earlier, eagerly catching up to his brother's long strides.

"There was some kid who got lost, I had to take care of him."

The two brothers continued to walk in silence.

"Seto?"

"Yeah?"

"When can we play like that?"

Seto snorted.

"When I can make the time, little brother," he said affectionately.


End file.
